1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an emergency exit in vehicles, particularly in aircraft and spacecraft. The emergency exit includes a door and an opening formed in a wall of the vehicle. The door is placed sealingly against and is lockable with the vehicle wall. The door can be moved outwardly through the opening for completely opening the emergency exit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Emergency exits of the above-described type are used predominantly in aircraft in civil aviation. However, they are increasingly also used in passenger cars of railroads.
Particularly in aircraft, these emergency exits must meet very rigid requirements. Due to the relatively high internal pressure in the aircraft body, the doors of the emergency exits must close absolutely tightly and, thus, the doors must be constructed appropriately stable and heavy and must be capable of being rigidly connected in a positively locking manner to the wall of the vehicle or aircraft. In addition, a frictional engagement between door and vehicle wall may be necessary. On the other hand, in case of emergency, it must be possible to open the emergency exit very quickly and without the application of force. In other words, any of the passengers sitting closest to the emergency exit must be capable of opening the emergency exit without requiring the application of great forces or the carrying out of substantial manipulations. Accordingly, even a physically weak person must be able to open the emergency exit, so that he or she and the remaining passengers can freely reach the outside from the aircraft. The above-described requirements must be met even though emergency exit doors are subject to the same requirements with respect to tightness and strength as are normal exit doors and windows in aircraft.
German Pat. No. 758,023, for example, describes a transparent pane support in vehicles, particularly in aircraft, in which, in case of danger, the pane is released by pulling out an elastic intermediate layer, so that a possibility for the passengers to climb through the window opening is provided.
In this prior art arrangement, the passengers must apply a great force in separating the pane from the support or for separating the support together with the pane from the frame in the aircraft wall. This great force cannot be applied, for example, by children or older passengers. In addition, this force can only be applied by the passenger in a standing position, and parallel to the length of his arm. This has the disadvantage that, since a person opening the emergency exit must stand in front of the aircraft wall, a larger space must be provided between the rows of the seats in flying direction. This greater space is very expensive for the airlines.
In addition, in the prior art arrangement, it is not insured that the pane will fall outwardly with certainty and without requiring time consuming manipulations by the passengers, so that the window opening and the space between the seat rows are not blocked for the following passengers. This problem is particularly serious if the pane or door is greater at all sides than the emergency exit opening for tightness reasons and rests against the inner surface of the wall under the pressure of the interior of the aircraft body.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to improve the emergency exit of the type described above in such a way that the above-described disadvantages are avoided. Specifically, an emergency exit is to be provided which can always be opened safely and quickly in a manner which requires very little force and no difficulties in manipulation.